On 21 March 2019, the Public Defender of Georgia, Nino Lomjaria, took part in an event called "I Choose Equality", which was organized within the framework of the awareness-raising campaign launched by the Council of Europe Office in Georgia.

In her welcome speech, the Public Defender thanked the Council of Europe for initiating the awareness-raising campaign on equality issues.

"The practice of the Public Defender's Office makes it clear that the cases of discrimination are basically related to the public attitudes towards various groups. The rate of identification of the cases of discrimination is low, since the population is often not aware of the illegal nature of various actions and less frequently uses protection mechanisms. That's why it is important to raise awareness and conduct information campaigns about the idea and importance of equality. The situation equality determines the quality of democracy in the country. There are less cases of violence, oppression and hatred in an equal society," the Public Defender said.

Nino Lomjaria expressed hope that the Public Defender's Office, in active partnership with the Council of Europe and society, would be able to change the stereotypes and prejudices that hamper the achievement of equality in the country.

Interestingly, the launch of the above-mentioned campaign symbolically coincided with the International Dayfor the Elimination ofRacial Discrimination and the World Down Syndrome Day, which are directly aimed at raising public awareness and mobilizing community around these two very important topics.

#Ichooseequality